Kitchen Garden Forum

My husband is hors de combat at the moment so I am looking for an easy way of repointing some missing gaps in our patio slabs. Is there such a product as a bag of ready mixed dry material to which I could just add water, mix and fill in the gaps? If so, would I be Ble to buy it at places like B &Q. (Rather like a readjy mixed cake mix?). You regular DIY maintenance guys must excuse my ignorance!

Dear Primrose, yes there are just such products, Wickes do a, Mix @ Go repair mortar, so i'm sure all the DIY stores will do the same sort of thing.

When mixing, do try and keep it on the dry side, as it will not stain the slabs a badly. You could also use a piece of cardboard either side of the joint, and sort of chop the mortar into the joint before smoothing, if you see what i mean.....

A medium soft handbrush is useful for getting a good finish and cleaning motar off the slabs, also useful when cleaning out the gap first, like with a lot of diy preparation is important. Not sure if these premixes have some sort of plasticiser built in, if not get some mortar plasticiser and follow the instructions you'll get a better stick.

Use ready-mix and add just enough water to moisten it, no more. Brush this into the gaps.